P3OF history - Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices Foundation Updated: 2023

In order to satisfy the requirements for a master's degree, History graduate students are required to submit a master's portfolio for archiving in ProQuest and the W&M BePress digital scholarship portal.

Parts of the History Master 's Portfolio

In addition to the standard required pages, the History Master's Portfolio will consist of exactly three chapters:

• The first chapter will be the Intellectual Biography required as part of the portfolio.
• The second chapter will consist of the first paper (written during the Fall semester).
• The third chapter will consist of the second paper (written during the Spring semester).

Instructions

Before you begin the final formatting of your Portfolio, please review these standards carefully and consult your program for any additional style guidelines. Your document must use our templates and conform to the OGSR formatting standards before your draft submission to the W&M ETD Administrator website.

• Title Page. Required. Title Page Template [docx]. There is a strict 220 - 240 (no more than 240) character limit for the portfolio title. This is the title that will be on your transcript, that must be filed with ProQuest, and is the title that you must enter into the William & Mary ETD Administrator website.
  • If the two research papers share a common theme, create a portfolio title that reflects this theme.
  • If the two research papers do not share a common theme, then the two titles should be abbreviated and separated by a forward slash — / — (e.g., "Spirited Enterprises/Drawn Together, Drawn Apart" rather than "Spirited Enterprises: Venezuela, the United States, and the Independence of Spanish America, 1789-1823/Drawn Together, Drawn Apart: Black and White Baptists in Tidewater Virginia, 1800-1875").
• Copyright Page. Required. Copyright Page Template [doc]. If you use a Creative Commons License, please include that information on the template. An Attribution-NonCommercial license would look like this on your Copyright page: © Copyright by Iam A. Student 2013, This work is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommericial 4.0 license. See About Copyright for further information.
• Approval Page. Required. Approval Page Template [doc]. The Approval Page must be signed by you and each individual committee member.
• Compliance. Required.
  • All students must submit a Compliance Committee form [pdf] as a separate form (not inserted into the portfolio) to the Office of Graduate Studies and Research when the final portfolio is submitted. The form must be signed by you and your faculty research advisor, certifying either (a) the research did not require approval by a compliance committee or (b) the research was approved by the appropriate W&M compliance committee(s).
• Abstract Page. Required.  Abstract Page Template [docx]. The abstract forms part of the metadata for a submission, so conforming with these instructions will make it easier for those conducting searches to pick up the full titles of each of the two papers:
  
  1. Your abstract must be left-aligned
  2. The following content must fit within the text box indicated in the template:
     1. The full title of the first paper and that paper's abstract, followed by;
     2. The full title of the second paper and that paper's abstract.
• Table of Contents Page. Required. Table of Contents Page Template [docx]. The Table of Contents must include the following:
  1. Acknowledgement page. 
  2. Any needed optional pages.
  3. The titles of each of the three chapters in your portfolio, in the order given above. The title of the first chapter, which must contain your Intellectual Biography, may be simply "Intellectual Biography" or an appropriate title of your choosing may be used. The chapter titles for the second and third chapters of the portfolio must be the full title of each paper.
  4. Students may add section titles under chapter titles as appropriate, as outlined in the Table of Contents template.
  5. See Page Order and Numbering for more information. 
• Acknowledgements Page. Required. Acknowledgements Page Template [dotx]. Acknowledgements should express gratitude to those who helped support and guide the completion of your thesis (e.g., your dissertation advisor, examination committee members, other faculty members, mentors, college staff, family, or friends).
• Dedication Page. Optional. Dedication Page Template [dotx]. A dedication can be to whomever you would like (e.g., your parents, your spouse, your children, your cat). It is okay to dedicate your thesis to someone mentioned in the acknowledgments.
• List of Tables Page. Optional. List of Tables Page Template [dotx].
• List of Figures Page. Optional. List of Figures Page Template [dotx].
• Portfolio. Required. There is no template for the portfolio, but it must contain the following chapters in this order:
  1. Intellectual Bibliography
  2. Paper 1 (written during the Fall semester)
  3. Paper 2 (written during the Spring semester).

Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investor’s point of view. We also respect individual opinions––they represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive.

To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.

Undergraduate Portfolio Requirements

Part 1: Your Portfolio

• Freshman and transfer applicants must submit a portfolio of eight to 12 images.
• Portfolios can include a range of media such as drawing, painting, sculpture, fashion design, animation, performance, graphic design, or sketchbook pages.
• We encourage you to show experimentation and breadth, and the portfolio does not need to specifically address the major to which you are applying.
• The portfolio must be completed online only.
  

Part 2: The Parsons Challenge

• The Parsons Challenge helps the Admission Committee understand how a prospective student develops ideas, visually communicates those ideas, and defends the work in writing.
• Create a new visual work inspired by the theme within a piece submitted in your portfolio.
• Support your process by writing one 500-word essay describing how your ideas developed.
• You may also submit up to two additional visual pieces that document your process.
• All forms of media are acceptable — drawing, video, photography, sculpture, 3D work, collage, and digital images.
• The Parsons Challenge is completed online along with the portfolio.

Importance of Self Expression

There is no one size fits all portfolio!

The portfolio should be a reflection of who you are. Personal and conceptual work is preferred over generic assignments. Like the personal essay, this is a way to introduce yourself to our committee. 

Ask yourself:

• Does this work represent my viewpoint or tell a story?
• Are most or all of my explorations in media represented?
• Does the portfolio reflect my process of ideating and creating my work?
• Does the work include areas where I have taken artistic risks or stretched to meet a challenge?
• Does this portfolio look like I made the work? (Or does it look like a collection of assignments similar to my peers in class?)

Your Process 

Students often mistake the term “process” for the technical execution of how they made a piece of work. When the Parsons Challenge requires students to speak about “process”, the intention is to ask why you made the work, why you made the decisions you made, and what inspired you. While this can sometimes include a description of the real materials and tools, this type of description only has relevance when it is in service to the idea of the piece. For example, a student who is thinking about climate change might decide that a time lapse video might tell the story better than a painting. 

Each image should include dimensions, titles, and a short narrative about the piece. We encourage you to write a few sentences about each piece to explain why you made the work and what you had hoped to accomplish with the piece.

Observational Work Is Not Required

This may differ at some schools, but we do not require purely observational pieces such as still life drawings, figure studies, etc. That is not to say that technique is something you should not consider, but that it is not the only consideration. We recommend merging your use of strong technique in each medium into work that you consider to represent your personal vision in that medium. For example, a drawing that has elements from life but takes thematic risks is more useful to the Admission Committee than a pure life drawing that only shows the level of your technical execution. 

Edit and Curate Your Work

You should take care with documentation so that your work is shown at its best. Consider lighting, cropping, and grouping similar pieces. Our initial read of the work is on a computer screen, and we are not able to zoom in or make the image larger. Use each image to highlight the work itself.

Consider:

• Each submission may contain one or more works of similar type or content
• Not every piece is well served by just one still image. Perhaps consider a short video of 3D work or turning the pages of a sketchbook. Perhaps one or two detail photographs might help us understand the intricacy of a work, in addition to the view of the work in its totality.
• Do not use multiple images for the same piece of work. You only get to share 8-12 images and an additional three for the Parsons challenge.
• Consider simplicity over complexity. If we can’t see the details because there is so much going on in one image, we may not get the full picture of your skills and thought process.
• Each image in our portal has a space for details about each piece. We encourage you to write a few sentences about each piece to explain why you made the work and what you had hoped to accomplish with the piece. 
  
• Do not add text to the image of the work unless it is a part of the work itself. All context and explanation should be included in the additional space provided.
• If you collaborated on a piece, credit your collaborator in the description of the work and clearly represent your role in the ideation and realization of the work.

Documentation Is Important

It is important for each image to be well documented in order for the Admission Committee to see your work. Investing the time and effort to create accurate images of your work puts your best foot forward. 

Consider:

• What is the best way to highlight this work? Is a still image the best representation or would a video or other media better display the work? For example, a video of turning the pages of a sketchbook can be more effective than still images.
• Is the work easy to see? Crop out any extraneous imagery that may distract from seeing the work.
• Craftsmanship. Your photography of a piece should be in focus, the work should be in the correct aspect ratio and orientation and the color of the piece should be accurate.

We Are Here to Help

Editing a portfolio can be overwhelming. You can reach out for advice by email, meet us in person on campus, or across the United States and in select countries at events like National Portfolio Days.

Reminders

• This is your exhibit of work: Curate a selection of pieces that speak to you.
• Consider experimentation and personal making.
• Documentation: Take care with how you present your work. Less is more.

Transfer Students

Students applying to Parsons who wish to be considered for advanced standing must also submit a portfolio that meets the portfolio guidelines listed above, but should consider including work within the major they intend to enroll in. The purpose of this type of portfolio is not only to assess the student’s conceptual thinking and technical mastery, but also evidence that the work completed at another college prepared the student adequately for the year level they are eligible to begin in. 

IEEE, an organization dedicated to advancing innovation and technological excellence for the benefit of humanity, is the world's largest technical professional society. It is designed to serve professionals involved in all aspects of the electrical, electronic, and computing fields and related areas of science and technology that underlie modern civilization.

IEEE's roots go back to 1884 when electricity began to become a major influence in society. There was one major established electrical industry, the telegraph, which since the 1840s had come to connect the world with a data communications system faster than the speed of transportation. The telephone and electric power and light industries had just gotten underway.

Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investor’s point of view. We also respect individual opinions––they represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive.

To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.

Nature Portfolio is here to serve the research community by publishing its most significant discoveries—findings that advance knowledge and address some of the greatest challenges that we face as a society today. Our journals publish not only primary research but also reviews, critical comment, news and analysis.

From Nature—the leading international weekly journal of science first published in 1869—to selective subject-specific subscription journals including Nature Genetics and Nature Physics and broad open-access journals such as Nature Communications and Scientific Reports, there is a home for your research within our family of journals. We're committed to providing more options for authors in the open access arena too. The Communications journals, a group of high-quality, selective, open access multidisciplinary journals, published their first articles in 2018. Our Nature Reviews titles showcase authoritative, accessible and significant review content. High-quality graphics and enhanced content provide context and explanation, whatever your discipline.

Every month, nine million people read news, analysis and commentary on nature.com. We are committed to developing the next generation of scientists through our backing for the Nature Awards for Mentoring in Science, the John Maddox Prize for Standing up for Science and the Nature Research Awards for Inspiring and Innovating Science.

Information on peer review performance and citation metrics for the Nature Portfolio journals.

For enquiries from science journalists and writers regarding content in the Nature Portfolio journals, and corporate press enquiries about Nature Portfolio's publishing activities.

The career site of Springer Nature, including current opportunities within our offices world-wide.

Nature Portfolio is part of Springer Nature. The main shareholders of Springer Nature are Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and BC Partners and details about corporate governance and board memberships can be found here.

Springer Nature has principal offices in London, New York, Berlin, Shanghai and Tokyo, and offices in cities worldwide.

To ensure this doesn’t happen in the future, please enable Javascript and cookies in your browser.

If you have an ad-blocker enabled you may be blocked from proceeding. Please disable your ad-blocker and refresh.